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Oxford Instruments America, Inc. is the only vendor that can provide the requested laboratory equipment that will enable elemental microanalysis of electron microscope specimens for the energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis system required by the Biomedical Engineering and Physical Science Shared Resource. The laboratory equipment must be:
1) A silicon drift (SDD) type of sensor with an active area equal to or greater than 80 square millimeters;
2) Equipped with a super atmospheric thin window (SATW) Light Element Window to enable detection of elements with atomic numbers of 4 and higher (i.e., beryllium and heavier atoms)'
3) In accordance with ISO15632:2002, and must be less than 127 eV at the manganese K-alpha line;
4) To have guaranteed peak stability such that the resolution and peak position must change by less than 1 eV between count rates of 1,000 and 100,000 counts per second;
5) Vibration free, the detector cooling must only be with the use of a thermoelectric Peltier cooling device, and the detector must not require any cooling by liquid nitrogen;
6) Enclosed within a vacuum to ensure the highest possible light element sensitivity;
7) Positioned precisely within the microscope column (i.e., motorized retraction and insertion);
8) Equipped with pulse pile-up correction software to automatically remove sum-peaks occurring at high-count rates, and to enable accurate qualitative and quantitative analysis; and
9) Fully integrated with pulse processing electronics and spectral acquisition system.
The sole source determination is based on the fact that the INCA EnergyTEM 100 / X-Max 80 Silicon Drifted Detector System manufactured by Oxford Instruments America, Inc. is unique in being able to satisfy all of the above requirements. Also, Oxford Instruments America, Inc. is the only manufacturer that can fully integrate such a system with these specifications into the laboratory's existing Tecnai T12 transmission electron microscope manufactured by the FEI Company, thus supporting the determination to make a sole source award to Oxford Instruments America, Inc.
The delivery point is the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Building 13/ 3rd floor/ Wing A, 13 South Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814.
The notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
This acquisition is being conducted under FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6, Competition Requirements. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. The determination by the Government not to compete the proposed purchase order based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.
Responses to this announcement, referencing synopsis number NHLBI-CSB-(EB)-2011-314-RNP may be submitted by mail to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Office of Acquisitions, COAC Services Branch, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Suite 6121, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902, Attention: Rieka Plugge, or by email to [email protected]. Fax copies will not be accepted.
Interested parties responding to this announcement need to do so by 7:30 am Eastern Standard Time on August 26, 2011. The response must include in their quotation, the unit price; the list price; shipping and handling costs; the delivery period after contract award; the prompt payment discount terms; the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin); the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size.
Note: In order to receive an award from the NHLBI, contractors must have a valid registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) www.ccr.gov, and ORCA https://orca.bpn.gov/login.aspx.